In 2008 my husband and I decided to try our hand at farming. We had no previous experience at what we were doing except for raising a few laying hens. After all the media hype with E-coli and other strange things in our food we just had a strong desire to know where our food was coming from. We both have full time jobs and a 14 year old son. We have jumped into this with both feet and we are learning as we go. We are interested to hear other people's comments.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Well winter has come to this part of Nova Scotia. It's cold and it's snowy. That means lugging water. The ground is semi frozen and I didn't get to plant my garlic or pick the rest of the carrots in the garden. Hmmm.. I wonder if they'll overwinter? Will I have carrots next spring? or will they be all mushy? That's something that will have to wait till next spring.

The cats are happy that the Christmas decorations are up. Binoo was in her usual spot the minute the tree was done. They are pretty good with the decorations. They only bother the bottom ones on the tree, and most of the time they don't even bother.

Yesterday morning we awoke to squeaking in the kitchen. Binoo and Daisy had a mouse cornered under the radiators. Heaven forbid that they catch it and eat it. No, no, no!! Too much work and it might dirty their paws. So J. and I went to the rescue. We saved the mouse from the jaws of death..well, kind of. We petted it and talked to it, then I let it loose outside, hoping it would be smart enough to find a nice warm hole to hibernate in.

Well let me tell you, no wonder mice are at the bottom of the food chain. They aren't the brightest bulbs in the bunch. Within 10 minutes Shadow tracked down the mouse and had a nice breakfast.

J. was all disappointed, but then Dave in all his wisdom told J., "How would you like to be stuck in a cold barn all night? This way Shadow had a nice warm meal first thing this morning. Kinda like oatmeal to you."

Tis' the season for Christmas concerts. So far we've had the Sunday school concert and J. was a nice wiseman. Then we had the school concert. Tomorrow night we're having the church Christmas contata.

Well onto the reason behind the title of this post.

It started out innocently enough that Sunday morning a few weeks ago....

We got up, ate breakfast, showered and then off to church.

The weather was still mild so I wore my leather jacket. I wasn't leading worship so I decided to wear jeans.

That morning we sat in the balcony...thank goodness...

It was a bit chilly in the church so I kept my jacket on.....thank goodness....

So we stood up and prayed and sang....then sat down...then stood up again... you get the picture.

Then it was the greeting chorus, so we went down to shake hands with the other people and I still had on my jacket...thank goodness.....

I started to climb up the stairs to the balcony when I felt something weird on my butt. I tried to inconspicuously feel what the problem was, nothing seemed amiss. I figured my underwear were in a spot that they weren't supposed to be in. So I didn't think any more about it.

I got to my seat and by this time it was warm in the church so I took my jacket off! Sat down and proceeded to listen to the sermon.

After it was done I donned on my jacket...thank goodness... and still my pants felt weird. I just said my good byes and left the building. Nothing unusual. Until the cold air hit me and my bottom! I got to the car and really felt for the problem. To my mortification my pants had ripped, from stem to stern!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Well, well, well... Two Fridays ago, we were driving home from J's hockey practice, when we spotted 3 teens walking on the side of the road. It was dark out, so we only saw them at the last minute since they were wearing all dark clothing.

We were just beside them when they threw a two by four in front of the car! What the heck!!?? We just couldn't believe it. We heard Thunk! as it hit the car. By the time we realized what was going on the culprits were gone. We stopped at a friends house to call the cops, for all the good it would do. But we did anyway.

We started on our way home again, when Dave said, "This is bugging me! I'm going back!" So he turned on a dime and we went back. Don't ya think the buggers were there again!

So we went to the house we called the cops at and Dave dropped us off and picked up his friend.

They was gonna go idiot huntin'!

To make a long story short, they found them and Dave chased them down, first with the car, then by foot! He caught one of them, and brought him at the fire hall, since that's where they were at the time and Dave has a key to it.

He called the cops from there and the kid squealed on his friends (honor among criminals eh?). The cops came and took a statement. The kid's dad came and he was not a happy camper! Since they are all underage they have a curfew set on them by the cops. No damage was done to the car. In a way I wanted some damage to the car, because they were obligated to pay for it, if there had been some. I know that's not very Christian of me, but I am so sick and tired of young punks getting away with everything, just because they're underage. My motto is, "If you're old enough to do the crime, you're old enough to do the time."

So putting that behind us, we thought our brush with the law was behind us. WRONG!

Last Saturday was an extremely busy day. I was working, Dave was at a craft sale till 4pm with my soap and spices (he sold 22 bars of soap btw, very good) J. had to be at the Sunday school concert practice at 1pm, then at a hockey game three hours away for 3pm, then he somehow had to go to my mom's in the other direction 45 minutes away for 4pm to go to the Santa parade for 6pm. Then Dave and I had to be at a banquet for 6:30pm. So needless to say, it was busy and J. didn't get to the hockey game. Only so many hours in a day and I don't really want to cut my son in half, like Solomon wanted to do in the Bible.

Anyhoo...We all got home around 9pm and all fell into bed soon after. We were pooped.

Little did we know.....

What had transpired in......

our back yard!

Sunday we were still clueless until after we got home from church and our neighbour came to see if we liked the new creature in our backyard.

We were like, huh?

Till we saw this......

Kids... this is what happens when you drink and drive!

I won't go into details with it, since the police are involved and it's not over yet, but I will say one thing, this poor truck is in a swamp that has 80 feet of mud under it. It's slowly sinking....it's been raining, this is not helping matters. It's been a week today and it's still here. Technically it's not on our land, but it visible from our land and people are coming to see it and it's causing congestion in the road. They stop to have a look, block our driveway and we are at the bottom of a blind crest. Not good.

The police have been here so many times, you'd think someone died here. Geez! I just want it gone. It was funny at first, but it's not anymore.

Febe giving us a kiss.

Anyway, I can't leave a post without photos of goats, it's been a while since I've posted some and new ones of Tundra.

Tommy and Tundra. (Stinky LaPew and Penelope too!)

She's now in with the goats permanently. She even sleeps with them at night. I have my house back. Phew! She wasn't happy in the house anyhow. She's so happy outside all day and in the barn all night. Someone told us it's cruel to keep a dog outside all the time and not bring it in the house. They said, "what's the point of having it?"

Uh...well...to protect the animals it was bought for. It's bred into to her to protect those goats. And she's happy and does it well.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Tommy is not doing his deed! Febe AND Cindi Lou came into heat again this week. Febe on Monday and Cindi Lou today.

Dave put the goats out for me today and I told him to watch Tommy and Cindi.

He brought Febe to the pasture and when he came back Tommy had jumped his stall! He was waiting outside for Dave. You gotta understand that Tommy's walls reach up to my shoulders! It's also not big, so he couldn't get a running start.

He was just raring to go see Cindi. So without going into graphic details....Dave said at least 10 times!!Surely to goodness it took this time. If it didn't we're going to bring them to a friend's buck. I'm not taking anymore chances.

Well it's cold here now. That means lugging water and low egg production. Crud. I'm also down to milking Febe just once a day. She's giving a liter with one milking. She was giving less with 2 milkings. So I just milk in the morning.

Oh I also need some ideas from everyone. I need a cute, catchy name for my patchouli soap. Honestly I hate the smell, but I had a request for it.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Well last night was our annual Ladies Night at Home Hardware. There were over 170 ladies in that store. Ugh. Think packed, think sardines, think claustrophobia! Ack!!!! But it's for a good cause. I was helping David S. with the spin 'n' win in the greenhouse part of the store. Brrrr....It was our first snow of this year. Just a small sprinkling but cold none the less.

Part of our Christmas room, The photo doesn't do it justice.

All the ladies enjoyed themselves, games, deals, and food served to you by men on platters. Uh, wait, I mean the food was on the platters, not the men. That's the French coming out of me.

We even had Scrooge!

Every year, Theresa the floor manager and organizer of this event also asks local artisans to set up tables to sell their wares. So I asked if Dave could come and sell my Epicure and soaps. It was excellent exposure. We sold about a dozen soaps and some spices also. He's also going to a craft show this Saturday. I'd go but I'm working.

Watch out! She's really vicious!

On another subject. Tundra "the wonder puppy and protectress of the goat herd" has some bad habits. She nips and she keeps putting herself between you and whatever else it is you're trying to get to. It's very annoying. Any hints on the nipping would be appreciated. When she's putting herself in front of you I'm wondering if she's just trying to protect you from what she thinks is a dangerous situation (I mean washing dishes is a very dangerous occupation. Nothing worse than dishpan hands!) or just being a pain in the patootie. Any suggestions? I mean she is a Great Pyrenees, it's bred into them to protect their property (and we are technically her property).

On a down side, Dave's mom was put into a seniors home last week. Her husband couldn't take care of her anymore. Her Alzheimer's was getting worse. It's been very hard on him and Dave. But it had to be done.

On a happy note, I entered a blogger's contest a few weeks ago and I actually won! I was so excited! Thank you Rural Revival!! Also Annie at Cariboo Valley just loves Dave's goat house.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Well ok, maybe not now. But Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it sure looked like it. My plan for that weekend was to do all the end of season yardwork. Clean the gardens so I can plant my garlic, clean up the greenhouse, bring in the lawn ornaments etc...

Meerrp! Guess not. That plan went out the door Friday night. It started to rain, and rain, and rain and rain some more. The wind came into play so that didn't help matters. Then Saturday it rained and rained and rained and rained some more. Sunday morning it just drizzled, then it rained and rained and rained and rained some more.

Are we seeing a pattern here? From Friday night to Sunday morning we received more than 200mm of rain! (for you Americans, 25mm equals one inch) What rain we didn't get this summer, we got this weekend. Everyone is flooded. Us for some strange reason didn't get a flooded basement. Weird.

BUT! we lost our goat fence and a tree. The tree was on it's way to fall on the chicken barn, hay barn and the corner of the goat barn. So Dave and our neighbour took his tractor and pulled it the other way.

My poor goat fence.

Then...my fence posts at the goat pasture broke under the pressure of all the rain being pounded by the wind. It broke alot of them right at ground level. So the goats are stuck in the barn and not happy about it. The front part of the pasture is fine, so Dave is going to block off the broken part and we'll fix it next spring. So that way the goats will be able to go outside.

The tree that fell. It was going on the other side.

As for the tree that got knocked down in the pig's pen...well... It killed the electric fence and the regular fence. Thank goodness we only have 2 little pigs left. They are locked in the barn for now, needless to say. They are also going to the butcher this week. They are only 3 months old, but nobody wants to buy them. So we are going to keep them whole and BBQ them on the spit.

So back to the rain, about an hour's drive from here in a place called Quinan they really got the brunt of it. The news had a reporter in a boat. It looked like are large lake. It was really a farmer's field. There was at least 6 feet of water if not more.

The dam broke!

One of the dams in our area broke. Dave went out today and took some photos. It was nice today, no rain...until now...I now hearing the rain just pouring outside. Sugar Boogers! This is not good for the people of Quinan. Many houses are destroyed, roads are gone, bridges are underwater and the hydro dam is almost ready to burst. They've been keeping a close eye on it.

This is really a nice big lawn. Not anymore. If it could freeze, it would be a nice skating rink.

Not good, not good at all. We have to keep praying that they'll all be safe. They have evacuated everyone, but there's still property and livestock.

Tundra with her Elvis impression

Well Tundra is growing. And growing.. She's a little over 5 months old now and she's 64lbs, extremely clumsy and into everything. The kitchen is getting too small for her. We were putting her with the goats until the fence got knocked down. That was tiring her out and they are finally getting along.

But in the meantime, she's been busy chewing in the kitchen.

Hmmmm... too bad she doesn't have any bones and toys to chew on. NOT! She's got lots of bones, but she prefers my cupboards....

and the baseboards

and the potato bin

and the antique high chair

and more baseboards!

She has got to move to the barn where she belongs! AND SOON!

Dave is going to change the pig pens to a Tundra pen when she's not with the goats.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Well I never thought I'd get to this! My 100th post! I can just see the ticker tape falling everywhere, the banners are a flying, the trumpets are blaring!! Woohoo!!!! The big 100!

Ok now I've gotten that out of my system. So how are things out there in blog-land? I promise that I will be more faithful in posting. I've had friends tell me to post. It's been too long.

Well what's been going on. Fall is definately (I can never spell that word) here. It is cooooold! Not freezing cold yet, but between your fall jacket and winter jacket cold.

We went trick or treating last night. Got lots of goodies. It was good candy this year.(Yes, it is possible to have bad candy. Too many Halloween kisses, yuck!) Lots of little chocolate bars, Mars, Kitkats, Coffee Crisps etc... Oh do the Americans have Coffee Crisps now? If not, you're missing out on one excellent chocolate bar. Kinda like the Ketchup chips. That's my favourite.

Man, I got off the subject there quick! Like the little old lady on the Golden Girls would say..."but I digress..."

It rained on Halloween, but we live in the country so you don't walk anywhere, you have to drive. Still, it was a cold rain.

Why I put this picture up, I don't know. It was just cute.

Update on Tundra. Yikes! She's growing fast. The incredible growing puppy. It's hard to remember that she's a puppy, when she could eat most dogs for a snack! I want to change her name to Wiggles LaRue. She's got one wicked wiggle on her. lol. When she walks, it's like an articulated dump truck. Her front feet go straight and the rest of her wiggles. It's so funny.

The goats are doing very well. I do believe that both girls are bred. Tommy has done his job quick. I think he got both of them on the same day. I wanted to stagger the births, but well..I guess not. If they are bred, they should give birth in March. But boy oh boy Tommy stinks. Woof! The girls seem to like his eau de chevre cologne. Tundra isn't crazy about it. She tries to keep away from Tommy, but it doesn't always work.

Well, it seems like every waking moment now is taken up with hockey or soap. J. is in his first year of hockey. I am something I said I'd never be....A HOCKEY MOM!! Ack! It's not so bad, kind of. I'll let you know at the end of the season.

This is my Lemon Poppy Seed soap.

The soap is taking off well. I have it in 4 stores already. Ladies nite at work, Dave is going to be there selling it also. So far I only have 5 different kinds. But after Christmas I'll concentrate on inventing new flavours, like Dave calls them. Well honestly a co-worker took a bite out of one of them.

This is a funny story. When I did my first batch, I had given small samples to all the girls in the store. The problem being I hadn't stirred the honey in well, so it made nice swirls in the soap. It looked like fudge. This girl wasn't at work the day I passed them out so she had no clue it was soap. That night she was cashing out the tills. She hadn't eaten all day and was starving, when she spotted the piece of "fudge" soap beside the till. She thought to herself, "nobody will notice if I cut off a little piece." So she did. She said that the minute it hit her tongue, she realized it wasn't fudge! I laughed so hard when she told me this, I thought I'd peed my pants.

I guess I should update ya'll on the last post. I'll just say that on the work front things are going lots better. On the friendship "soap" opera, (no pun intended), not so good. Instead of getting mad at her for slandering our name, I'm praying for her.

So que sera sera.

Oh I almost forgot! The pig update. We have sold Charlotte. Three are going to the butcher this week and that's going to leave just 2 little ones. We aren't sure what we're doing with them. With Dave's new work schedule, he won't have time for them. Are we going to get more in the spring? Don't know. At the moment we are going to concentrate more on the goats and the soap. Strange how life throws you curve balls. It's like the old saying goes,

Monday, October 25, 2010

I have been dreading this post. I have no clue where to begin. It's been so long. Well I'll try to start at the beginning.

We've known for some time now, that there were changes coming at Dave's work. We've known since last summer, but we had no clue what was going to happen.

Then we found out what was going to happen. We almost wished that we were still wondering.

One thing was no more bringing the truck at home. So that meant that we'd have to get a second vehicle that we could NOT afford. Including the gas and maintenance. He'd have to drive to get the truck, which is an hour away (on a good day). So he'd have to leave at 5am and only get home at 7pm. There goes family time. Plus....he'd have to start working nights also. So once again, there goes family time. Also, he's not on propane anymore, he's on an oil truck. He doesn't mind that, but he's got a bad back and pulling a 100lb hose everywhere is not good for him.

Dave and J. at a friend's wedding last week.

So after the initial shock, we regrouped and figured out what we were going to do. He started looking for work elsewhere, which is hard to do, since he's been with this company for 18 years. He loves his job and the company. It was a very stressful time. He even sent resumes to Alberta. This was a last resort kinda thing, but still an option. He would live there and commute here every several weeks. The only good thing about that option, was that I'd be able to quit my job and stay home, since he'd be paid mega bucks in Alberta. But I'd rather just keep my job and keep my hubby at home.

After several weeks went by, the company changed their mind and even though, he was still not on the propane truck, they could keep the trucks at home and travel with them. So that meant we didn't need another vehicle. Phew! Then they changed the schedule again and the night shifts, were changing, 2pm-2am. That's much better! (I'm not being sarcastic here) This way it meant that he could get some sleep at night, see us a bit in the morning and then go to work.

We were very concerned about the safety of night shifts. They go for 2 days and then 2 days off. So you'd never get your system used to staying awake at night and sleeping during the day. It would have been half bad if it was like the city drivers, their stops are close at hand, so they're in and out of the truck constantly. The drivers down here, can drive for 2 hours before they get to their first drop, lots of opportunities of falling asleep at the wheel.

So we're happy with the 2-2. It's not perfect, but it's livable.

During all this stress, I started making soap. Lots and lots of soap. So much soap that 2 stores approached me to sell my soap in their store! I approached one store last week and she was thrilled to have it and she also makes home parties (it's a home decor store) and she wants to take it on the road with her! Well needless to say, we were on cloud nine!

But not everyone was happy. A friend of mine who was also making soap, accused me of stabbing her in the back! How, I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure that out. She says I went behind her back and made soap and sold it. Ahhh..... no I didn't. I blogged once that I was making it. I put photos of it on my Facebook page. I wouldn't say, I went behind her back. I'm not using her recipe, I don't even know what it is!? I found my own on the internet.

Now she's slandering me and Dave to everyone that will listen. Supposedly 5 of my friends on facebook , have dropped me as their friend.

This summer she stopped talking to me because, someone had reported her and another goat person to the authorities for selling illegal yogurt and cheese. They said it was us. It wasn't. But it seems like Dave and I are everyone's scapegoat (pardon the pun).

So this stress added to the other stress of Dave's job, didn't help matters. So can ya'll see why I wasn't in the mood to blog?

Friday, October 15, 2010

It's been awhile, but I'm not gone to the big farm in the sky. I will blog more later on.

At the moment we have been under an extreme amount of stress for the last 2 months. So needless to say, when you're stressed blogging is the last thing on our minds. Add to this stress that a few people have been giving us some grief.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Dave and I under an a willow tree that was there during the Expulsion.

This has been an amazingly busy week! I don't even know where to begin.

Well first, like I've already posted, I've started with the soap making. It's so much fun and I wish I had more time to make it. I made 2 batches on Monday. We've started to use 3" PVC pipe for the molds and it works great. It's hard to get out, but "Red Green" already has his brain smokin' on a way to take them out easier.

Then we got an email from the Baptist minister we met on the ferry last month. They're coming for a month long visit next summer. They've already booked at a B & B. This is going to be lots of fun.

Dave has sold all his piglets from this litter. Well he's got deposits on all of them. I've also found out how to make lard!! So when we take our pigs to the butcher I'll be able to get free lard! Cheaper soap.

The goats have gone nuts. I think Tommy has begun to be bucky. Tonight we were getting whiffs of some different odor while we were beside him. I haven't seen him pee on himself yet, but I'm also not here all day. Cindi Lou was going nuts tonight. She was trying to jump on our backs and stay there as we were walking away. She would actually walk on her hind legs and follow us. Methinks she's going into an early heat. Even Febe is getting edgy and nasty, which means heat time is a coming. It would be so nice if they could be bred early in the season. Then I could relax the rest of the fall. So far in the past years, Febe has only come in heat at the end of October, early November.

We put Tundra in with the goats a little while ago. We stayed there. Thank Goodness!! Who needs a livestock guardian against coyotes when you have Febe. If we wouldn't have been there, she would have hurt badly or even killed Tundra. I mean Tundra is now almost the size of a coyote (they're small here, about 50-60 lbs). But we tried again tonight and it went a bit better.

I'm holding a scorpion!!!

This last weekend we went to the Windsor Exhibition. It was really good. Lots of animals, tractors, old, old machinery and a venom show. I got to hold a tarantula, a scorpion and pet a python and an alligator! How cool is that!

My grandmother had one of these and so did my mother while I was a baby.

We also went to Grand Pre. Ok, here's a quick history lesson.

J. and I in front of the chapel at Grand Pre. The statue is of Evangeline.

In this part of the province we are mostly Acadians. Acadians were peace loving French people that came to the new world sometime in the 1600's. (Don't quote me on that, I can't remember my history at the moment, lol) It was also at the time when the British and the French were fighting for this land. To make a long story short, the British won the land and wanted the Acadians to swear fealty to them. They didn't want to swear fealty to them or the French, they just wanted to be left alone, in peace to live like they had been for years.

Dave put J. in the tree, so he could climb it. Then on the other side we saw a sign saying ,"DO NOT CLIMB THE TREES" Opps. But I mean, doesn't this tree just beg to be climbed?

So one night the British told all the Acadian men to meet them in the church for a meeting. After they were all there, they were locked in and held prisoners. That's when they began the deportation or expulsion of the Acadians. They were sent to the four corners of the earth. Most ended up in Louisiana. Some were sent to Jamaica but never made it since it was hurricane season when this happened (no cruise ships here chickies). It lasted from Sept 5, 1755 to Dec. The men were separated from their families, children from their mothers. It was a great way to break their spirits. I mean, if you've just lost your entire family, what is there to live for?

This is the exact spot that the Expulsion took place. This is known as the Acadian cross. I have the same in gold on a chain. (only a lot smaller, lol)

If you've ever heard of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Evangeline" this is where he got the inspiration from.

This tree was so desolate. It was by the path going to the beach. It just seemed to fit.

Many of the Acadians actually walked back from Louisiana to Nova Scotia. To return to their land. And that is why I'm here today. Because my ancestors were extremely stubborn. A couple of years ago, we actually got a formal apology from the Queen of England for the Expulsion.

This is the beach where they were sent away. So sad.

But that's all in the past, we learn from our mistakes ...don't we?

Anyway, Grand Pre is where it all happened. So we wanted to show J. his heritage. As we were walking the grounds, he kept saying to himself, "I'm so proud to be an Acadian." I felt so proud that he recognized his heritage at his young age.

So that was your history lesson for today children.

So that was my "slow" week. Saturday is our annual yardsale at work. It's going to be a long day. Sunday, if it's nice, I want to go apple picking after church.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

I cannot believe it! I've finally made soap. I was so stressed out, I got a headache. But it was really nothing. I don't know what I was stressing over. Geeezzz! I knew that was going to happen. I made oatmeal and honey goat's milk soap. I finally found a recipe that wasn't very big. Just in case it flopped. But low and behold....it didn't flop!

The only thing I did wrong was I didn't mix my oatmeal and honey well enough. But I'll know for next time. And the oils cool off alot slower than the lye and milk mixture. Note to self, melt the oils way ahead of time.

I was kind of worried because the recipe I found on the blog Chickens in the road said that goat's milk soap takes 15 minutes to trace. Mine traced in 5 minutes. So I was hoping it hadn't flopped.

Tonight I unwrapped it did the ph test and it was safe. It was officially soap.

I finally found coconut oil. After running everywhere,going online, having every grocery store in the area try and find it, a craft store 30 minutes away from here sells it for 4$ a pound. duh!

I sent Dave all over creation last week to find me some. The stores sent him to the health food store and they were about to sell him some. 20$ for 6 oz! He's like, I don't think so. Then they said, "What do you want it for?"

Dave told them it was for making soap. Ahhhhh!! They told him to go to this craft store downtown and they had some there. Who would have thunk it?

Now I have to find a cheaper source for olive oil. I can't buy it at the store. It's too expensive. I'll call the craft store to see if they have any cheapo stuff.

Krissy, thanks for all your advice! I do have one more question...can you double a batch?

I've registered with the Fly Lady. Only one problem. When am going to find the time to do these things. That's what I'm wondering.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Well, well, well....It just amazes me how fast the temperature can turn. Last week it was so hot and muggy you could have steamed carrots in the greenhouse. A week after "Earl" went by, God flicked the switch and it's now freezing out. We actually had to start the furnace tonight.

First day of school.

Mind you the first day of school it was still hot and the kids actually went in shorts. That's the first time ever. I don't even remember going to school in shorts. Some schools in Halifax let the kids go home because of the heat. See the schools around here don't have air conditioning.

The pastor we met on the ferry actually called us on the Sunday after the hurricane to see how we had fared. It's nice to know that there are actually people out there who honestly care.

Hurricane Earl. It was low tide. The wet part on the wharf is when it's high tide.

The funny thing is that Hurricane Earl turned out to miss us and hit Halifax. We were prepared and they weren't. Bummer for them. Good for my sunflowers. A few fell but most stayed up. Nothing was damaged around here either. Mind, we had strapped everything within an inch of it's life, so short of a tornado would have moved anything. It was actually anti climatic. On that Saturday morning we sold out of batteries. Funny. But I guess it's better to be prepared.

There are so many things I love about having animals. But there is one thing I really despise about having them and that is BUGS!! Oh mylanta! The last few weeks every time I leave the chicken coop I have a little bug or two on my arm. Nothing serious. It kinda looked like baby spiders. I can handle that. Then Friday night I stuck my hand in the hen's nest. I took my arm out and it was full of bugs!! UGGGGHHH. Oh my, oh my, oh my! I brought the eggs in the house and they were crawling with these little buggies also. So we went out with the Raid. Now 99% of the time I do e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g organic. But when it comes to stuff like that, I whip out the Raid can.

When we got to the coop we opened the lid of the nest and it was teaming with crawlies!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think it was baby spiders. I think it was a kind of mite. What ever it was, they is dead! Saturday I Raided that coop. I'm amazed the the hens are still alive. What saved their butts is that I let them loose outside. I never suspected anything since the hens weren't scratching. Oh well. We should be fine for now. I hope.

My mother and J. at the picnic

Today was the second annual Meteghan Family Picnic. We were asked to bring Cindi Lou Who for the kids. It went well. Well kind of. I brought her in the back seat of the car. (uhmmmm didn't I say in a post somewhere, that I would not bring a goat in my car again...) She wouldn't lay down, sooo you know what they say...a goat won't poop or pee if it's laying down. Well, she pooped in the car. Dangit! At least I had the dog cover on the seat. Phew!

J. and Cindi Lou going home from the picnic

But the kids loved her. But again, most kids had never seen a goat other than in photos and a few adults asked if it was a dog. Huh?

On the way home we stopped to get an ice cream. Again...not a good move with a goat in the car. I'll never learn, will I.

My tomatoes that I found in the weed garden and the little ones from the greenhouse

Guess what I found in the weed garden a.k.a the veggie patch. Tomatoes!! Beefsteak tomatoes! I'm so impressed. It was hard to find them in all 2 foot high grass, but I found them.

12.8 oz!!

The greenhouse is almost over for the season. I figure by next week I'll be cleaning it. I have been forbidden from making anymore pickled beets. Like I've said before I hate the darn things, but I love making them. But that is one thing that actually grew well in the garden this year. I still have a row of them left, but Dave won't let me pickle them.

Little does he know, I'll get to them eventually. Muahhahahahahaha!!!

Tundra the amazing growing dog!

Tundra is growing like bad weeds. She's almost 40 lbs now.

I just had to leave you with this parting shot. One meeeeaaannnn panther. Or a sleepy one caught in a yawn.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

I was pondering on this past summer, when I realized how much my baby has grown. Not only physically but emotionally and spiritually. He's become more responsible.

As much as I hate him growing up, it's also kinda neat. It's amazing seeing this little life you brought into this world, nurture it, love it, teach it, feed it, clothe it, pray over it and hope for the best. Then you see it blossom into a beautiful,God-fearing, God-loving, caring, hardworking person. Raising a child, you see the world through new and amazing eyes. You now see that a daisy is not just a pesky weed anymore, but a thing that houses little bugs (yuck), or a way to see if that little girl in your class loves you, or not.

Checking out the big toys at the breakwater they're building.

This summer I noticed that J. will get his snacks ready by himself, like using the microwave. Taking a shower and actually getting clean! Dave thought him how to drive the ride-on lawnmower. He now loves to bring in the firewood, because he gets to drive the tractor with the trailer. He's doing an excellent job and he's so proud of himself. We're so proud of him to. He goes to pick up the mail by himself.

First time driving the tractor

So proud and grown up!

There's so many little things that are too numerous to mention and yet some days you wonder if he's not reverted back to being 3 years old. But all in all my baby is growing up! Sniff..sniff...

Tomorrow is the first day of school. He's going into grade 4!! When he left for his first day of school in grade primary, I told Dave, "You watch, we're going to turn around and he'll be graduating from high school." Dave told me I was nuts. Well guess what...It was just yesterday that he started primary. Well that's what it seems like.

Time marches on. Things still need to be done like pigs need to be mucked out, goats need to be milked and puppies need to be taught potty manners.

Tundra on the trampoline!

Tundra is also one that is growing like a bad weed. The flea meds we gave her when we first got her stopped working, because she outgrew it before the other dosage was due! She gained 10 lbs in 2 weeks!

J. jumping on the beds at the hotel. Another little ritual we have in hotels. Can you tell we don't get out often? You can dress us up but you can't take us anywhere!

We all went to New Brunswick a few days ago for Dave's arm. We needed to wait over a year for a specialist's appointment here in Nova Scotia. Only a few weeks in New Brunswick. He got a few injections and we are hoping they are going to work. We crossed over on the ferry. It's a long 3 hour ride. But on the way back we chatted with two couples on the boat. They were great. One guy was a Bible thumping, fire and brimstone, Harley Davidson riding,Southern Baptist preacher! Another lady was a dog trainer. The ferry ride, just flew by! We have photos of them, but I didn't ask their permission to put it on my blog, so I won't. But that's what I love about travelling. It's not seeing new places and different things, which that is all fun too, but meeting new people. That's the exciting part!

Well we are battening down the hatches for Saturday. Hurricane Earl is going to hit us head on. Crud. We do need the rain, just not the winds. This is a picture of my sunflowers before hurricane Earl. I'll post another one after hurricane Earl on Sunday. I waited and waited and waited for blooms on my sunflowers. I finally got them this week and now Earl's going to show up and razor them. Oh I'm not impressed!

Dave and the sunflowers

But don'tcha find that they grew tall! Dave is 6 feet tall and they are dwarfing him. The heads are supposed to be giants, but I guess they put all their energy in the stalks.

Six little piggies and their momma.

Since there's only 6 piglets in this litter they are growing fast, fast,fast! They've been going outside now for a week.

Ginger

Oh and Ginger passed away this week. She survived the great mink massacre, but she couldn't escape old age. I had had her for over 4 years and she was old when I got her. I don't even remember where I got her from. She had also survived being almost pecked to death by her fellow hens.(Nasty things) But we had nurtured her back to health a few years ago. But old age marched and took over.